Some time back Microsoft launched the UWP, Universal Windows Platform, a target enabling you to create Windows store apps that could also be run on XBox One hardware. There was however a big catch, limited resources. From the UWP documentation:
The maximum memory available to an app running in the foreground is 1 GB.
- The maximum memory available to an app running in the background is 128 MB.
Apps that exceed these memory requirements will encounter memory allocation failures. For more information about monitoring memory use, see the MemoryManager class reference.
Share of 2-4 CPU cores depending on the number of apps and games running on the system.
Share of 45% of the GPU depending on the number of apps and games running on the system.
UWP on Xbox One supports DirectX 11 Feature Level 10. DirectX 12 is not supported at this time.
All apps must target the x64 architecture in order to be developed or submitted to the store for Xbox.
So, basically you got access to half of an Xbox One… Bummer. Thankfully in the upcoming Fall Update, that is all about to change! From the Microsoft blog:
Since the advent of consoles, developers have asked for ways to create games for one platform that you could run anywhere. With the release of the Expanded Resources feature in the Windows Fall Creators Update, we are taking the industry closer to that goal than it has ever been before. Now, developers will automatically have access to 6 exclusive cores, 5 GB of ram and full access to the GPU!
Awesome! I have a video discussing this change available here.